Paired comparison models in loglinear form are generalised linear models and can be fitted using the IWLS algorithm. Unfortunately, the design matrices can become very large and thus a method is needed to reduce computational load (relating to both space and time). This paper discusses an algorithm for fitting loglinear paired comparison models in the presence of many nuisance parameters which is based on partition rules for symmetric matrices and takes advantage of the special structure of the design matrix in Poisson loglinear models. The algorithm is implemented as an R function. Some simple examples illustrate its use for fitting both paired comparison models and (multinomial) logit models. (author's abstract) / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

The black bear (Ursus americanus) has returned to Kentucky and is now part of a reproducing population in the southeastern Cumberland Mountain region. The broad objective of this project was to examine the interactions between people and bears, with the ultimate goal of improving bear management in a way that addresses stakeholder concerns. Using interviews of regional stakeholders, participant observation, and media reports collected between summer 2003 and fall 2006, I investigated how the presence of black bears in Harlan and Letcher counties in Kentucky has had an impact on area residents. I complemented this information with observations of bear behavior and an analysis of bear capture and handling data collected within the study period. Artificial provisioning of bears was widespread and >60% of black bears captured were confirmed to use anthropogenic foods at least some of the time. I found a significant difference (P<0.0001) in the apparent physical condition of confirmed anthropogenic feeding bears and bears whose feeding behavior was unknown, and similar differences in physical condition between bears captured along traplines in Harlan and Letcher counties when compared to bears captured along traplines in Bell County (P<0.01). Mean litter size was 3.25 ± 0.11 (SE), significantly above average for eastern North America (P<0.05) although cub survival remains unknown. All documented mortality of adult bears was human-caused. Anthropogenic food sources may affect bear behavior, survival, reproduction, and physiology, as well as bring bears into close contact with humans. Artificial provisioning is currently an important part of bear-human interaction in eastern Kentucky, both facilitating bear tourism as well as precipitating nuisance problems. Cessation of provisioning could have important consequences for the developing tourism industry in the region and for the bears themselves. Both the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and many local people have an interest in conserving bears, but problems have arisen due to differing conceptions of appropriate or desirable management. A better understanding of the human dynamics and cooperation taking place in this situation could provide much-needed information both in Kentucky and in other localities where stakeholders are debating how to co-exist with wildlife.

Th.--Lett.--Nice, 1976.

Le domaine de la reconnaissance automatique du locuteur (RAL) a vu des avancées considérables dans la dernière décennie permettant d’atteindre des taux d’erreurs très faibles dans des conditions contrôlées. Cependant, l’implémentation de cette technologie dans des applications réelles est entravée par la grande dégradation des performances en présence de nuisances acoustiques en phase d’utilisation. Un grand effort a été investi par la communauté de recherche en RAL dans la conception de techniques de compensation des nuisances acoustiques. Ces techniques opèrent à différents niveaux : signal, paramètres acoustiques, modèles ou scores. Avec le développement du paradigme de "variabilité totale", de nouvelles possibilités peuvent être explorées profitant des propriété statistiques simples de l’espace des i-vecteurs. Notre travail de thèse s’inscrit dans ce cadre et propose des techniques de compensation des nuisances acoustiques qui opèrent directement dans le domaine des i-vecteurs. Ces algorithmes utilisent des relations simples entre les i-vecteurs corrompus et leurs versions propres et font abstraction de l’effet réel des nuisances dans cet espace. Afin de mettre en œuvre cette méthodologie, des exemples de données propres / corrompues sont générés artificiellement et utilisés pour construire des algorithmes de compensation des nuisances acoustiques. Ce procédé permet d’éviter les dérivations qui peuvent être complexes, voire très approximatives. Les techniques développées dans cette thèse se divisent en deux classes : La première classe de techniques se base sur un modèle de distorsion dans le domaine des i-vecteurs. Une relation entre la version propre et la version corrompue d’un i-vecteur est posée et un estimateur permettant de transformer un i-vecteur de test corrompu en sa version propre est construit. La deuxième classe de techniques n’utilise aucun modèle de distorsion dans le domaine des i-vecteurs. Elle permet de tenir compte à la fois de la distribution des i-vecteurs propres, corrompus ainsi que la distribution jointe. Des expériences ont été réalisées sur les données bruitées ainsi que les données de courte durée ; donnés de NIST SRE 2008 bruitées/découpées artificiellement ainsi que les données du challenge SITW bruitées naturellement / de courte durée. / Speaker recognition witnessed considerable progress in the last decade, achieving very low error rates in controlled conditions. However, the implementation of this technology in real applications is hampered by the great degradation of performances in presence of acoustic nuisances. A lot of effort has been invested by the research community in the design of nuisance compensation techniques in the past years. These algorithms operate at different levels : signal, acoustic parameters, models or scores. With the development of the "total variability" paradigm, new possibilities can be explored due to the simple statistical properties of the i-vector space. Our work falls within this framework and presents new compensation techniques which operate directly in the i-vector space. These algorithms use simple relationships between corrupted i-vectors and the corresponding clean versions and ignore the real effect of nuisances in this domain. In order to implement this methodology, pairs of clean and corrupted data are artificially generated then used to develop nuisance compensation algorithms. This method avoids making complex derivations and approximations. The techniques developed in this thesis are divided into two classes : The first class of techniques is based on a distortion model in the i-vector space. A relationships between the clean version of an i-vector and its corrupted version is set and an estimator is built to transform a corrupted test i-vector to its clean counterpart. The second class of techniques does not use any distortion model in the i-vectors domain. It takes into account both the distribution of the clean, corrupt i-vectors as well as the joint distribution. Experiments are carried-out on noisy data and short utterances ; artificially corrupted NIST SRE 2008 data and natural SITW (short / noisy segments).

Muscovy ducks are native only to Central and South America, Mexico, and parts of southern Texas and are considered invasive in some areas outside of their native range. Although they have been introduced worldwide, they remain largely unstudied. The primary focus of this study was to relate Muscovy duck abundance to habitat characteristics of wetlands in Tampa, Florida. Muscovy abundance was measured using point count methods at 21 wetland sites that occur within an eight km radius of the University of South Florida’s main campus. Habitat features at these sites were assessed using field methods and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (Arc 10.1v). Mann-Whitney U tests and Chi-squared tests were performed to identify significant differences between quantitative data groups. A Chi-squared test determined that there was not a positive correlation between Muscovy abundance and fountains or water regime, yet identified a significant relationship between Muscovy abundance and fencing, in which Muscovies did not frequently occupy ponds with fencing. Mann-Whitney U tests did not identify significances between Muscovy abundance and other habitat groups. Since Muscovy ducks are listed as an invasive species, identifying habitat preferences and deterrents will assist land managers and property owners with habitat modifications in preventing or controlling nuisance Muscovy populations.

This study was conducted to address the controlling factors of biosolids stability as they relate to mesophilic anaerobic digestion, dewatering processes and digestion enhancement by wet sludge disintegration technologies. The working hypothesis of this study is that digestion performance; nuisance odor generation and the degree of digestion enhancement by wet sludge disintegration are directly related to anaerobic floc structure and its interaction with shearing forces. Mesophilic digestion was studied in two modes of operation, convention high rate and internal recycle mode to enhanced digestion using a wet sludge disintegration device. The internal recycle system operated on the premise that stabilized sludge would be removed from the digester disintegrated, either by mechanical shear or ultrasonic disintegration for this study, and returned it for to the digester further for further stabilization. Both benchscale and full-scale demonstrations found this mode of digestion enhancement to be effective for mechanical shear and ultrasonic disintegration. It was also determined that volatile solids destruction in both conventional and enhanced mesophilic anaerobic digesters can be reasonably predicted by the concentration of cations in the sludge being treated. It was found that depending on the disintegration device used to enhance digestion performance was influenced by different cation associated fractions of the sludge floc. Along with the improvement of digester performance, overall biosolids stability was investigated through of volatile organic sulfur emissions from dewatered biosolids. In doing so, a method to mimic high solids centrifugation in the laboratory was developed. The centrifugation method identified three major factors that contribute to the generation of odors from biosolids: shear, polymer dose, and cake dryness. The inclusion of shearings suggest that one means of reducing odors from biosolids generated by centrifugation is to use a shear enhanced digestion technology to degrade odor precursors, such as amino acids, within the digester prior to dewatering. Furthermore, the mechanical shearing within a digester is thought to be similar to that of mechanical shear enhanced digestion; therefore, the floc properties that control the digestion process would control observed odor generation. / Ph. D.

Alarm fatigue is a practice problem that applies to hospitalized patients and the nurses who care for them. Addressing alarm fatigue is important to promote alarm safety and to decrease the risk of patient harm or death. The purpose of this study was to decrease alarm fatigue and improve alarm safety in a regional neonatal intensive care unit (RNICU). Guided by the conceptual model for alarm fatigue and alarm safety, this study addressed whether or not alarm management protocols designed to decrease false and nuisance alarms in the physiological monitoring of neonates improve alarm safety via decreased alarm burden and alarm fatigue as evidenced by statistically significant reductions in false and nuisance alarms. A quantitative, time series quasi-experimental design was used with 4 waves of data collection. One wave was baseline data collected preintervention, and 3 waves of data were postprotocol implementation to obtain an initial indication of sustainability. Alarm observation data collection sheets were developed and used to track numbers and types of alarms pre- and post-protocol implementation. The data analysis showed statistically significant decreases in both false alarms and nuisance alarms related to the physiological monitoring protocol and lead changing protocol. Overall, high protocol adherence was noted, and the total number of alarms per hour per bed was reduced by 42% (p < .001), 46% (p < .001), and 50% (p < .001) from baseline at Weeks 2, 4, and 6, respectively. Implications from this study include impact on practice and policy, direction for future study, and a call for social change to promote alarm safety in the care of neonates.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Statistics / Paul I. Nelson / The null hypothesis of equal distributions, H0 : F1[equals]F2[equals]...[equals]FK , is commonly used to compare two or more treatments based on data consisting of independent random samples. Using this approach, evidence of a difference among the treatments may be reported even though from a practical standpoint their effects are indistinguishable, a longstanding problem in hypothesis testing. The concept of effect size is widely used in the social sciences to deal with this issue by computing a unit-free estimate of the magnitude of the departure from H0 in terms of a change in location. I extend this approach by replacing H0 with hypotheses H0* that state that the distributions {Fi} are possibly different in location and or scale, but close, so that rejection provides evidence that at least one treatment has an important practical effect. Assessing statistical significance under H0* is difficult and typically requires inference in the presence of nuisance parameters. I will use frequentist, Bayesian and Fiducial modes of inference to obtain approximate tests and carry out simulation studies of their behavior in terms of size and power. In some cases a bootstrap will be employed. I will focus on tests based on independent random samples arising from K[greater than and equals]3 normal distributions not required to have the same variances to generalize the K[equals]2 sample parameter P(X1>X2) and non-centrality type parameters that arise in testing for the equality of means.

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African law does not recognise an inherent right to the existing, unobstructed view from a property. Nevertheless, seemingly in disregard of this general principle, property owners often attempt to protect such views and courts sometimes in fact grant orders that provide such protection. This dissertation aims to establish whether South African law does indeed not acknowledge a right to a view and whether there are any exceptions to the general rule against the recognition of the right to a view. The principle that the existing view from a property is not an inherent property right is rooted in Roman and Roman-Dutch law. This principle was received in early South African case law. Inconsistency in the application of the principle in recent case law renders its development uncertain. An analysis of recent decisions shows that the view from a property is sometimes protected in terms of servitudes or similar devices, or by virtue of legislation. In other instances, property owners attempt to prevent the erection of a neighbouring building that will interfere with their existing views, based either on a substantive right or an administrative shortcoming. When the protection of view is based on a limited real right (servitudes or similar devices) or legislation, it is generally effective and permanent. Conversely, when it is founded on a substantive right to prevent building on neighbouring land or an administrative irregularity rendering a neighbouring building objectionable, the protection is indirect and temporary. A comparative study confirms that the position regarding the protection of view is similar in English and Dutch law. Constitutional analysis in terms of the methodology developed by the Constitutional Court in FNB indicates that cases where view is protected are not in conflict with section 25(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The investigation concludes with an evaluation of policy considerations which show that the position with regard to a right to a view in South African law is rooted in legitimate policy rationales. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Inherente reg op die bestaande, onbelemmerde uitsig vanaf 'n eiendom word nie deur die Suid-Afrikaanse reg erken nie. Desnieteenstaande poog eienaars dikwels om die uitsig vanaf hul eiendomme te beskerm en soms staan die howe bevele tot dien effekte toe. Dit skep die indruk dat die Suid-Afrikaanse reg wel die bestaande uitsig vanaf 'n eiendom as 'n inherente eiendomsreg erken of dat sodanige uitsig minstens onder sekere omstandighede beskerm kan word. Hierdie verhandeling het ten doel om onsekerhede betreffende die algemene beginsel oor 'n reg op uitsig uit die weg te ruim en om lig te werp op gevalle waar 'n onbelemmerde uitsig wel beskerm word. Die Romeinse en Romeins-Hollandse reg het nie 'n reg op uitsig erken nie. Hierdie posisie is deur vroeë regspraak in die Suid-Afrikaanse regstelsel opgeneem. 'n Ondersoek na latere Suid-Afrikaanse regspraak toon egter aan dat howe wel onder sekere omstandighede, skynbaar strydig met die gemeenregtelike beginsel, beskerming aan die onbelemmerde uitsig vanaf eiendomme verleen. 'n Eerste kategorie sake behels gevalle waar die uitsig vanaf 'n eiendom deur 'n beperkte saaklike reg, in die vorm van 'n serwituut of 'n soortgelyke maatreël, of ingevolge wetgewing beskerm word. In 'n tweede kategorie sake word die beskerming van 'n uitsig deur middel van 'n aanval op die goedkeuring van 'n buureienaar se bouplanne bewerkstellig. Sodanige aanval kan óf op 'n substantiewe reg óf op 'n administratiewe tekortkoming berus. Die onderskeie kategorieë verskil wat betref die doelmatigheid en omvang van die beskerming wat verleen word. 'n Saaklike reg of wetgewing verleen meestal effektiewe en permanente beskerming. Hierteenoor het 'n aanval op die goedkeuring van 'n buureienaar se bouplanne hoogstens indirekte en tydelike beskerming van die uitsig tot gevolg. Regsvergelyking bevestig dat die Engelse en Nederlandse reg die Suid-Afrikaanse posisie ten opsigte van'n reg op uitsig tot 'n groot mate eggo. Grondwetlike analise aan die hand van die FNB-metodologie dui daarop dat die gevalle waar uitsig wel beskerming geniet nie strydig is met artikel 25(1) van die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika, 1996 nie. Bowendien regverdig beleidsgronde die behoud van die huidige beginsel in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg.

Thesis (LLM (Public Law))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The objective of this thesis is to establish whether the notion of public nuisance has a legitimate purpose in post-apartheid South African. Public nuisance originated in English law in the 12th century as a tort-based crime called tort against land and was used to protect the Crown against infringements. This special remedy of the Crown was used in cases of unlawful obstruction of public highways and rivers, damage or injury causing an inconvenience to a class or all of her majesty‟s subjects and a selection of other crimes. The notion of public nuisance was adopted in South African law during the late 19th century. Between its inception and 1943, the notion of public nuisance was applied in line with its original aims, namely to protect and preserve the health, safety and morals of the public at large. Public nuisance regulated unreasonable interferences such as smoke, noise, violence, litter and blockage of roads which originated in a public space or land, as opposed to a private space or land. However, the public nuisance remedy was indirectly used, in a number of cases during the 1990s, by private individuals to apply for an interdict to evict occupiers of informal settlements. In so doing, these private individuals bypassed legislation regulating evictions and in the process disrupted or frustrated new housing developments, especially those provided for in land reform programmes. In fact, it was established that this indirect application of public nuisance is unconstitutional in terms of section 25(1) of the Constitution. Most of the public disturbances originally associated with the public nuisance doctrine are currently provided for in legislation. Since the remedy is now mainly provided for in legislation, the question is whether the doctrine of public nuisance as a Common Law remedy is still relevant in modern South African law. It was concluded, especially after an analysis of two cases during 2009 and 2010, that the notion of public nuisance only has a future in South African law if it is applied iv in the absence of statutory nuisance or any other legislation covering public nuisance offences and where it is not used as an alternative mechanism to evict occupiers. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die tesis is om vas te stel of publieke oorlas as gemeenregtelike remedie „n geldige doel in post-apartheid Suid-Afrika het. Die remedie bekend as publieke oorlas het ontstaan in 12de eeuse Engelse reg. Hierdie remedie het ontwikkel as „n delikteregtelike en kriminele remedie, met die doel om land wat aan die Kroon behoort te beskerm. Publieke oorlas het, onder andere, toepassing gevind waar daar onwettige obstruksie van publieke hoofweë en riviere was sowel as skade of nadeel wat vir die breë publiek ongerief sou veroorsaak. Ander misdade was ook gekenmerk as „n publieke oorlas. Publieke oorlas is teen die laat 19de eeu in die Suid-Afrikaanse regoorgeneem . Tussen die oorname van die remedie in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg en 1943 is die remedie van publieke oorlas toegepas in lyn met sy oorspronlike doelwitte, naamlik om optrede wat die gesondheid, veiligheid en moraliteit van die breë publiek in gedrang kon bring, te verhoed. Volgens sy oorspronklike doel reguleer publieke oorlas onredelike inmenging soos rook, geraas, geweld en obstruksie van paaie wat op publieke grond of „n publieke spasie ontstaan het. Die remedie van publieke oorlas is, in ‟n reeks sake gedurende die 1990‟s, deur privaat individue indirek gebruik om okkupeerders van informele nedersettings uit te sit. Sodoende het privaat individue die wetgewing wat spesiaal ontwerp is om uitsettings te reguleer vermy en in die proses nuwe behuisingsontwikkelinge ontwrig en gefrustreer, veral in gevalle waarvoor in grondhervormingsprogramme voorsiening gemaak word. Hierdie indirekte toepasing van publieke oorlas is ongrondwetlik omdat dit nie met artikel 25(1) van die Grondwet versoenbaar is nie. Die meerderheid van steurnisse wat gewoonlik met publieke oorlas geassosieer word, word tans deur wetgewing gereguleer. Aangesien die remedie nou hoofsaaklik in wetgewing vervat is, ontstaan die vraag of die leerstuk van publieke oorlas as „n gemeenregtelike remedie nog van enige nut is in die moderne Suid-Afrikaanse reg. vi Die slotsom, veral na die analise van twee sake in 2009 en 2010, was dat die publieke oorlas remedie slegs „n toekoms in Suid-Afrikaanse reg het, indien dit toegepas word in die afwesigheid van statutêre oorlas of enige ander wetgewing wat publieke oorlas oortredinge dek en waar dit nie as „n alternatiewe meganisme gebruik word om okkupeerders uit te sit nie. / National Research Fund